How Much Does an MRI Lumbar Spine Cost in Massachusetts?
Mri lumbar spine w/o dye
$312Hospital outpatient total2026 Medicare, physician + facilityUnder 2026 Medicare rates, an MRI lumbar spine costs up to about $312 in total at a hospital outpatient department, counting both the physician and the facility (national rates). Outside a hospital, at an independent imaging center, lab or office, Medicare's full rate in Massachusetts averages $210, from $199 in Rest of Massachusetts to $221 in Metropolitan Boston.
- ✓Your ZIP's wage-adjusted hospital and surgery center rates
- ✓Five nearby hospitals by name, with CMS star ratings
- ✓The add-on codes that typically land on the bill
- ✓A word-for-word script for asking for a good-faith estimate
- ✓A private link you can reopen and share
- ✓Everything in the Premium report
- ✓15 nearby hospitals instead of five
- ✓Filled good-faith-estimate request letter
- ✓Bill-negotiation letter
- ✓Printable PDF download
Massachusetts Medicare physician rate (2026)
+9.5% vs nationalAverage of 2 localities. Office range $199.25–$220.54.
What the whole procedure costs
The office rate above is what an imaging center, lab or office is paid for the whole test. In a hospital, the facility bills its own fee and the physician bills only the reading. These are 2026 national Medicare amounts.
Medicare may pay the facility separately for this code or package it into another service on the same day, so treat the facility share as an upper bound. For a test like this the physician in a hospital bills only the reading (the professional component); outside a hospital one global fee covers the whole test, shown in the office rate above. Medicare allowed amounts are not what an uninsured patient is charged, and not a quote. Private plans typically allow more.
Your ZIP in Massachusetts
Look up your ZIP to see whether metro Boston or rest-of-state pricing applies, from Boston and Cambridge to Worcester, Springfield, the North and South Shores, and Cape Cod.
What MRI lumbar spine costs at hospitals near you
Everything above is a national average. The hospital you pick in Massachusetts moves the bill more than anything else you control.
Rates for your ZIP, 5 named hospitals with CMS ratings, the add-on codes, and the scheduler script.
For example 01001.
One-off payment, no account and no subscription. You get a private link and an email. No medical records and no insurance card, ever.
What these numbers are
Every figure on this page is a 2026 Medicare allowed amount: the physician line comes from the Physician Fee Schedule adjusted by geographic practice-cost indices, and the facility totals come from the CMS hospital outpatient (OPPS) and ambulatory surgery center rates. None of them is a hospital chargemaster price, your insurer's contracted rate, or a quote. Anesthesia, pathology, imaging reads and follow-up care are billed under their own codes when they apply, and an inpatient stay is paid a different way again. In Massachusetts the office and hospital physician lines for this CPT differ by $138.29.
National vs Massachusetts
Where Massachusetts ranks for this CPT
CPT 72148 by Massachusetts locality
| Locality | Office |
|---|---|
| metropolitan boston | $220.54 |
| rest of massachusetts | $199.25 |
PE GPCI ranges from 1.053 to 1.194 in Massachusetts. That index is why the same CPT is not one price statewide.
MRI Lumbar Spine and how Massachusetts is priced
Massachusetts is priced through two localities: metro Boston and the rest of the state. Boston's locality carries clearly higher geographic adjustments, reflecting some of the highest medical wages and office costs in the nation, while Worcester, Springfield, and the Cape share the lower rest-of-state factors. The split means the fee schedule itself acknowledges what everyone in the state already knows about Boston prices. Even so, rest-of-state Massachusetts still prices above most of the country.
Boston has arguably the densest concentration of academic medical centers anywhere, and its teaching hospitals pull referrals from all of New England and beyond. That prestige comes with a high-cost market structure that state policymakers have scrutinized for years. Western Massachusetts operates more like a regional market centered on Springfield, and Cape and islands residents contend with seasonal capacity strain.
This procedure: A lumbar spine MRI without contrast images the lower back, the region responsible for most back pain and sciatica, showing discs, nerve roots, and the spinal canal. It is the definitive test before considering injections or surgery for a suspected herniated disc or spinal stenosis. You lie on your back in the scanner for 20 to 40 minutes; it is painless but the flat position can be uncomfortable if lying down aggravates your pain.
What Is MRI Lumbar Spine?
A lumbar spine MRI without contrast images the lower back, the region responsible for most back pain and sciatica, showing discs, nerve roots, and the spinal canal. It is the definitive test before considering injections or surgery for a suspected herniated disc or spinal stenosis. You lie on your back in the scanner for 20 to 40 minutes; it is painless but the flat position can be uncomfortable if lying down aggravates your pain.
What Affects the Cost
- –This is one of the most shopped scans in America, and prices between hospitals and independent centers commonly differ several-fold.
- –Insurer rules pushing six weeks of conservative care first mean therapy visit costs often precede the scan.
- –Findings frequently lead to epidural injections or surgical consultations, so the MRI is often the gateway to a much larger episode of spending.
- –Contrast is only added for specific concerns like prior surgery or infection, at a higher-code price.
- –Open or wide-bore scanners for larger or claustrophobic patients can carry different pricing at specialty centers.
Questions to Ask Before Booking
- 1.Do I meet my insurer's criteria yet, or will this be denied for lack of conservative treatment first?
- 2.What is the cash or negotiated price at nearby freestanding imaging centers?
- 3.Is my scan authorized at the specific location I am booked at?
- 4.Given my history, does the radiologist need contrast, and what would that add?
- 5.If the MRI shows a disc problem, what are the typical next-step costs I should anticipate?
Other featured procedures in Massachusetts
MRI Lumbar Spine in other states
MRI Lumbar Spine in Massachusetts: questions
Under 2026 Medicare rates, an MRI lumbar spine costs up to about $312 in total at a hospital outpatient department, counting both the physician and the facility (national rates). Outside a hospital, at an independent imaging center, lab or office, Medicare's full rate in Massachusetts averages $210, from $199 in Rest of Massachusetts to $221 in Metropolitan Boston. Enter a ZIP for the exact Massachusetts locality.
Yes. CMS splits Massachusetts into 2 payment localities. For this CPT the office physician fee spans $21.29 from the lowest to highest locality. Look up your ZIP to see whether metro Boston or rest-of-state pricing applies, from Boston and Cambridge to Worcester, Springfield, the North and South Shores, and Cape Cod.
After the Part B deductible, coinsurance is usually 20% of the allowed amount: about $42 for the office physician line or $14 for the hospital physician line in Massachusetts. Medigap may cover that 20%. This is not the hospital facility fee.
It depends on where the test is done. At an independent imaging center, lab or office, $209.90 is Medicare's full rate in Massachusetts, covering the test and the reading. In a hospital outpatient department the physician is paid only for the reading (about $71.61) and the hospital is paid separately, which brings the national total to up to about $312. Massachusetts ranks #45 of 51 states on the non-hospital rate (9% above the national office rate of $191.72).